Nightclubs stripped of licences after stabbings
A NIGHTCLUB where a man died after being stabbed and another where a man was left with serious knife injuries have been shut down.
Mambo’s and The Spot have both had their licences revoked by town hall bosses after the two separate incidents on the same night.
The first, at Mambo’s on Dantzic Street opposite the Printworks, resulted in the death of Tashan Stevens, 27, whose body was later recovered from the River Irwell.
A licensing review hearing was told that shortly before 3am in the early hours of Sunday, July 30, door staff rang police to say there was a ‘riot’ at the club and that knives had been seen and bottles were being used as weapons.
Mr Stevens was pursued from the scene by officers.
His body was recovered from the Irwell following a major search by fire crews. He was found to have suffered multiple stab wounds.
Licensing officer Alan Isherwood, representing GMP, told the hearing at Manchester town hall: “The gravity of this incident, in which a young man lost his life, cannot be overstated.”
He said there had been a total of 21 crimes reported at the venue since January 2016 – and that door staff had been changed six times.
Pc Isherwood said the ‘calibre of clientele visiting the premises was of concern,’ including convicted criminals.
Bosses offered to use metal detecting wands to search everyone on entry as well as issuing bodyworn cameras to door staff after concerns were raised with them by GMP and the council.
But the hearing was told that when an officer paid a visit, the measures were not in place.
Mambo’s offered to close the basement club at the premises, leaving the upper floor cocktail bar, in a bid to keep its licence in order to save their licence.
Anthony Lyons, representing licence holder Anthony Sheridan, said: “He holds his hands up and accepts the current situation is unacceptable.
“He was perhaps naive in grasping the problems. But it was behaviour of the small minority who choose to come into city and behave the way they did. Please do not let them determine our fate.”
Councillors revoked the licence, highlighting ‘systematic failings’ in the management.
Town hall chiefs also revoked the licence of the The Spot, where a stabbing happened in the early hours of July 30.
Police said they were called at around 4.45am by paramedics to reports a man had been knifed at the Princess Street club.
He was taken to hospital, where was said found to have suffered serious injuries including a punctured lung.
No one from the bar, owned by a company called Zero Deniro, attended the hearing. A spokesman for the The Spot declined to comment.
The bars can appeal the decision at Manchester magistrates court.
A Mambo’s representative said bosses were ‘considering their position.’